Who Do You Think You Are - Chris Ramsey 20th July - Genealogists' Forum

kiterunner · #1 19-07-23, 22:06

On BBC1 at 9 p.m. and repeated next Tuesday at 10:40 p.m.

kiterunner · #2 20-07-23, 21:59

Episode summary:

Chris Ramsey went to visit his parents in South Shields, where he grew up. They showed him a photo of his maternal grandfather, Alf Lawson, who served in the Navy in WW2, and some photos which belonged to Alf, including an official photo of Nagasaki after the atomic bomb. They also showed him Alf's war medals, including a Russian one. Then they showed him a photo of his father's mother's father (i.e. Chris's great-grandfather) Dryden Gordon Young, who was said by Chris's father to have served at Gallipoli in WW1, and subsequently to have fought in France and to have been captured just before the end of the war.

Chris looked Dryden up on TNA's catalogue and found that he was listed as an Ordinary Seaman and then an Able Seaman. His service record showed that in 1915 he received a bayonet wound to his left cheek. The service record said that he was in the Collingwood Battalion. Chris looked this up and found out that there is a war memorial to them at Blandford Forum, and that they were based at Blandford Camp, so he went there and met an historian who explained that Dryden's service record said that he served in the Royal Naval Division, which was for sailors who were not needed by the navy and so fought on land as soldiers. The records showed that Dryden was sent to the Dardanelles in 1915 to take part in the Gallipoli campaign, and a report from the South Shields Gazette said that he was treated in hospital in Malta. Chris then went back to Blandford Camp to see the war memorial, and to meet an historian in the museum there. The historian showed him more of Dryden's service record, which said that his battalion was sent to take part in the Battle of the Somme in 1916 but that Dryden caught scabies and didn't go with them. However, he did eventually join his unit and fought in the Battle of Passchendaele. The service record showed that he was reported missing on the 22nd Jan 1918, and that he was reported as a Prisoner of War at Dolman POW Camp in Germany on the 28th Feb 1918. He was repatriated soon after the end of the war.

Chris then went to HMS Belfast, and met a curator who showed him Alf's service record which listed all the ships that he served on, including the Ulster Queen which was very similar to HMS Belfast. The curator told him that the Ulster Queen escorted Russian convoys of merchant ships, known as the Arctic Convoys, from 1941 onwards. Chris showed the Russian medal to the curator, who told him that it was a Jubilee medal of 40 years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, i.e. an anniversary medal issued to those who served in the convoys.

Chris then went to the Imperial War Museum and met a curator who showed him that the service record also said that Alf served on the HMS Speaker from 1943 to 1945. A list of HMS Speaker's journeys showed that in March 1945 it joined the Pacific Fleet, and that it arrived in Tokyo in August 1945 and left on the 3rd Sep 1945, the day after Japan's surrender, which was signed in Tokyo Bay while HMS Speaker was there. There was a photo of the crew of HMS Speaker celebrating VJ Day. The list of journeys showed that the ship went on to Manila and then arrived at Nagasaki on the 20th Sep 1945, a few weeks after the atom bomb was dropped. HMS Speaker was the first British ship to arrive there after the bomb. The Imperial War Museum had a copy of the same photo that Alf had. The photographer was another member of the crew of HMS Speaker.

Chris then met a genealogist who had been researching Alf's family tree. She told Chris that his (Chris's) 5xg-grandfather was Gabriel Davies, who was a footguard at the Tower of London in the 1790's. He married Ann Billingsley in 1794 at St Martin in the Fields. Their son William Davies (Chris's 4xg-grandfather) was born and baptised at the British Lying-In Hospital in London. The baptism record had a column headed "Recommender" and for Ann it said her recommender was Lister, Commanding Officer, 3rd Guards. Chris went to the Foundling Hospital and met an historian who explained that the Lying-In Hospital was set up in 1749 for poor women and the wives of soldiers, and that Ann was recommended by her husband's commanding officer, who was a subscriber to the hospital. The Weekly Board Minutes from March 1795 showed that Ann was among the applicants who drew a white ball in the lottery for admission (those who drew a red ball were not admitted), and then again in May 1797. She was admitted again in 1801 after the abolition of the balloting system.

kiterunner · #3 20-07-23, 22:00

I suppose they showed this episode this week because the film "Oppenheimer" is released tomorrow. I didn't find it a very interesting episode.

Ann from Sussex · #4 21-07-23, 06:22

It was boring and I fell asleep so missed the end....again! Is it worth me watching the last 15 minutes or so on catch-up? I always have found him loud and annoying and he wasn't any different throughout this programme. He shouted his conversations with everyone he met!

Durham Lady · #5 21-07-23, 06:48

I turned the programme off after hearing him constantly saying "oh my God" I find Chris Ramsey one of the most annoying people on TV. He's loud, full of himself and gives folk from the North East a poor reputation.

Ann from Sussex · #6 21-07-23, 08:56

No, he doesn't do that for me Daphne as I've met enough people from the north east to know he isn't typical. I did hope he would prove to be different on WDYTYA when he wasn't performing. The trouble was he didn't seem to stop performing even when he was speaking to his parents! He must be exhausting to know if he really is like it all the time. I lost count of the number of times he exclaimed "OH - MY - GOD!" at full volume.

Olde Crone · #7 21-07-23, 09:21

I didn't know who he was and appear to have missed nothing, lol. I didn't make it through the whole programme, just sat down again at the end where the expert treated us all to a demonstration of how to pick a coloured ball out of a bag......

OC

Ann from Sussex · #8 21-07-23, 11:36

....at the end where the expert treated us all to a demonstration of how to pick a coloured ball out of a bag......

Ooh, that was the bit I missed by falling asleep so I really must watch it on catch up or else I won't know how to do it!

NickiP · #9 22-07-23, 17:30

Well each to their own but I quite enjoyed it. Better than the Claire Foy episode.

The last section I found interesting 'cos an ancestor of mine and one of his siblings were born in the British Lying-In Hospital in the 1780s and I wasn't aware of the hoops they had to jump through to be admitted.